This will be a bit of a novel, but bare with me, it is pit bull related :p

When I first got my horse I moved to a barn 4 miles away from my house. The barn had 18 stalls but only 6-7 of them were ever filled at a time. The people who owned the barn bought cheap grass hay, they never installed a hot water heater, they didn't finish the arena, pretty much they couldn't keep up with customer demand and never followed through. They lost the barn a year after I was boarding there because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage. Mind you the woman who runs the place is the kind of person who is never at fault, it's always someone screwing her out of money, or someone bad mouthing her. She is always the victim and she will tell you all about it if you'll listen. They sold the barn but live literally right next door with their own barn. Pretty much when they owned the whole property there were two big barns, a barn for miniature horses and the "new" barn which I boarded at. So they sold the barn but essentially live on the same lot, right next door.

It's been 2-3 years since the place has been sold. I board next door now but I live inside of the barn. They built an apartment to have a trainer on the property but the new barn owner rents it out. I have been living there since October of '08. I have three dogs and a cat. My dogs are ALWAYS with me. They are never unattended. They are only allowed to go so far away from me. If there are people around I either leash them, or keep close tabs on them.

There are some people living on the property in a big fancy live-in horse trailer. They are only here for a few months. Their dogs were and still are a bit out of control. They have a lhasa who is leashed always [due to the fact he doesn't come when called.] They have an Australian shepherd whose recall sucks and she is dog aggressive, mostly typical herding behavior but she can be a nasty. I guess the dog has barked at the woman next door before and what not but she's never gone onto their property. Well the gal next door pulls the owner of my barn and apartment aside and is all:

Her: "You know that girl that lives in the apartment?"Barn Owner: "Suzanne."Her: "Yeah! Well the other night she came home and you know, she has a pitbull and he came up and barked at me and I felt threatened!"Barn Owner: "Did you say something?"Her: "Well no.. but he's a pit bull and I felt threatened!"Barn Owner: *eye roll* Her: "I guess I'm going to have to start shooting dogs!"Barn Owner: "You go ahead and shoot my dogs, I'll call the sheriff out and he can deal with it."Her: *uber pissed off*[You can only shoot dogs if they are attacking your livestock.]

This NEVER happened. Seth for one, is a mutt. But he is also a mutt who DOES NOT BARK. He has never barked at anyone! If anything it could be LiLo but this never happened! I do remember coming out of my truck one time, with my dogs and the Australian Shepherd flying over barking at me and then barking at the woman next door while she watered her horses but it was NOT my dog!

It just makes me angry because she's throwing in "Pit Bull" for shock value. No it can't be the Aussie, that isn't scary enough. We're going to threaten someone with the "P" word to make it sound more dramatic. Not to mention, why didn't she say to me while this supposedly occurred "I feel threatened! Can you control your dog?!" She is just nuts. I guess she had a foal that had a bite wound last year and blamed the attack on a dog that lived with the people who were in my apartment before. Granted there dog did wander over there on occasion, but it's unlikely the dog caused the wound.

I've never had to deal with anything really like this, owning a dog that people don't understand or fear. I've had another incident where someone picked up their small dog off of a walking path and hid behind a tree while Seth and I passed [talk about strange!] if I had been quick enough I would have said "Oh is your dog bad?" Seth didn't even notice either of them. My hope is she's just had a bad experience with large dogs, but my gut tells me it's probably because he's brindle and she assumed he was a Pit Bull.

I'm sorry this post is so long! I just wanted to vent, I couldn't believe how nuts this woman had become! She's always been crazy, but making up stuff and threatening to shoot dogs is just stupid.

I think most of us have been in a similar situation at least once. I either ignore the person or attempt to educate them, depending on the personalities and attitude at the time.

I've lived in the same house for nearly eight years and most of my neighbors are comfortable with my crew. But, I do have a neighbor down the block who is *still* nervous around my dogs. When we first moved in, she wouldn't let her kids any where near my house and would pull them inside when I walked my dogs past her house (always on the other side of the street from her house). She never said anything much to me about the dogs, except that she "didn't like them", but did talk to other neighbors about them being "dangerous". *sigh*

Our neighborhood had a Block Party last year and Shorty came with us -- she's a social butterfly, especially when there's food involved, LOL. She spent her time running from person to person with her Cuz ball, and she'd drop it at everyone's feet and wait for them to throw it into a yard. When the nervous neighbor showed up with her kids (four of them, all over age eight), I leashed Shorty up and brought her home. Her kids were disappointed, especially since their oldest boy (14 I think) wanted to throw the ball for her, but I wasn't taking the chance with Shorty. Who knows what that neighbor would have said?

Never make someone a priority in your life when that someone treats you like an option.

The people who are always playing the victim card really annoy me in general. I agree tho that really the only thing you can do in this kind of situation is either educate the person or just go on about your business.

Where I live now, we still get comments about Dylan being a big mean Pit Bull. Some of the parents on my street who are scared of him have shared that fear with their children who now RUN from Dylan while yelling "It's the biting dog!" Dylan is not a biter, but you can't control other people's ignorance. I just focus on making my dog the best breed ambassador he can possibly be and I have been known to be a bit of a show off with his obedience. It changes people's minds when they see how well behaved he is and slowly people are starting to accept him.

I hate it when this stuff happens. A few weeks ago, I was walking Mindy (who is the biggest mooshball ever) and Oona at the park. I walked around the bend and there was this large family and the two in the front yelled, "MOM! PIT BULLS!!!! GET THE KIDS!!!!!" I stopped short and thought wtf? The kids went running like the boogey man was after them. As I walked by, I told the boy who had yelled that "ya know, they're not monsters. They don't bite. They don't shoot lasers from their eyes or spit venom." He was confused and said "Uh...ok..." This whole time, Mindy had her super wide grin and wiggle butt going, but that wasn't enough. The mom said, "If they have teeth and are pit bulls, they bite!" So, I stopped, had both dogs "down" and waited for them to pass...all the while both dogs were looking up at them wagging their tails and smiling.

And I agree...the showing off with obedience does help a lot.

But some people can have the truth smack them right on their melons and it doesn't make a bit of difference, sadly.

JenMommy to Mindy Lou and Moose

Pits are addicting!!! If I foster any more, my husband will have my head!

I hate stuff like this, though I have to be honest that I'm a little nervous about how you handle your dogs. BUT if you are comfortable with it, then you're comfortable with it. (I just had to get that out.)

I've had plenty of people freeze in terror when I'm out walking the dogs. I usually step to the side, put the dogs in a sit and allow people to pass. More often than not, people thank me and sometimes comment about how well behaved the dogs are. Not that they actually stop to meet them or anything, but I like showing that they are under control.

To add to the "amaze me" story...

Two weeks ago, I had all three dogs packed into my little station wagon. Riggs and Connor in crates and Ruby in the front seat. The car was packed to the roof with stuff. I realized that I forgot to water my new plants and went into the back yard to run the hose for a few minutes.

The dogs started barking and I looked up and saw a group of people standing at the end of my driveway. I didn't think much of it because a lot of people stop there to cross the street (We live at the end of a T in the road.) But the dogs were getting louder and more frantic, so I headed up to see what the problem was.

I saw a woman with long hair and a red shirt looking in the direction of my car and I could just hear her saying "stop it;" in other words, she was not yelling nor did she even sound all that upset. Then I heard thumping and funny noises. I came around the corner of my house to see a 15ish year old boy banging on the windows of my car and making noises at the dogs, going from the back where Connor was to the driver's side where Riggs was. I came unglued, I charged towards him screaming "What the hell do you think you are doing? GET AWAY FROM MY CAR. Which one would you like me to get out for you to meet???!!!!!" The woman in red then decided that she should probably stop the brat and grabbed him by the arm and dragged him across the street and down the road. The group of people just stood there staring at me. I was so mad I was shaking and it took a while for me to get the dogs calmed down (and much longer to get myself calmed down.)

The worst thing is that Connor is perfectly capable of going through a car window. He broke my windshield a few years ago when he was being agitated through the car in a protection scenario - he didn't even pause after he did it, just kept on going like nothing happened. The door windows on my car are frameless so had he been in the front seat I have z-e-r-o doubt he would have gone through it with no problem. Needless to say, that would have gone very poorly.

People are stupid, plain and simple. I'm quite sure that the story would have been "evil Pit Bull smashes through car window to bite an innocent teenager as he meekly walks past the car." If that had been my kid - or any kid in my family, or any kid with a responsible parent! - we would have been grabbed by the ear and dragged away the second we even made a move to do something so stupid; and frankly flat out dangerous.

UGH. Now I'm all wound up again about it. Of course, had my phone not been in my car, I could have called 911 and had the cops screaming to my house. THAT would have been really funny (in hindsight anyway.)

I hate people.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

I hate stuff like this, though I have to be honest that I'm a little nervous about how you handle your dogs. BUT if you are comfortable with it, then you're comfortable with it. (I just had to get that out.)

Nervous how?[And just to clarify, I am curious, not asking in a defensive tone ) LiLo is very obedient on leash and off. She stays with me when she's off leash, unless I allow her to run around. Seth is best on leash, still getting the hang of things but so far has a very good sit, down, and stay. They both also walk next to me on leash, they don't pull me. LiLo's recall I would say is 99% reliable, Seth is probably at about... 70% reliability however I do not allow him off leash unless we are somewhere alone. I run a really tight ship as far as my dogs respecting me and listening to me so in that respect I am comfortable with how I handle them.

I've had plenty of people freeze in terror when I'm out walking the dogs. I usually step to the side, put the dogs in a sit and allow people to pass. More often than not, people thank me and sometimes comment about how well behaved the dogs are. Not that they actually stop to meet them or anything, but I like showing that they are under control.

That is what I always do when we come across people. Mostly because it's a good lesson for my dogs to wait and not react to the other dog in passing, or to not react to the person in passing. When the lady picked up her dog to go hide that is what I intended on doing was to have Seth in a sit stay and let her pass.

I hate stuff like this, though I have to be honest that I'm a little nervous about how you handle your dogs. BUT if you are comfortable with it, then you're comfortable with it. (I just had to get that out.)

Nervous how?[And just to clarify, I am curious, not asking in a defensive tone ) LiLo is very obedient on leash and off. She stays with me when she's off leash, unless I allow her to run around. Seth is best on leash, still getting the hang of things but so far has a very good sit, down, and stay. They both also walk next to me on leash, they don't pull me. LiLo's recall I would say is 99% reliable, Seth is probably at about... 70% reliability however I do not allow him off leash unless we are somewhere alone. I run a really tight ship as far as my dogs respecting me and listening to me so in that respect I am comfortable with how I handle them.

They have an Australian shepherd whose recall sucks and she is dog aggressive, mostly typical herding behavior but she can be a nasty.

I wouldn't let my dogs off leash anywhere near a dog that acted like those people's dog does. I am not doubting your control however with an out of control dog living basically next door it's a different matter.

Our next door neighbor has a little maltise mix that they let run loose, their Pit Bull and Husky are always on leash. Because of this, our dogs are never allowed off leash in our yard though they are dependable, the other dog isn't.

When the lady picked up her dog to go hide that is what I intended on doing was to have Seth in a sit stay and let her pass.

I would have had a really hard time not laughing.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

I've had people yank their dogs/children/etc. away from Squish at Petsmart and places like that, or grab their kids and tell them ALL about the vicious pit bull when their out of control animals (both dogs and children) go to interact with her.

As she is in a perfect sit or down stay at my feet, I tell them I understand their concerns, and then because I understand, I ask which aspect terrifies them the most - the wonderful obedience? The sturdy leash/choke combo? The obvious owner control? The wagging tail? The pink sparkly rhinestone collar? Surely one of these must be indicative of the imminent danger.

demolitionic wrote:I ask which aspect terrifies them the most - the wonderful obedience? The sturdy leash/choke combo? The obvious owner control? The wagging tail? The pink sparkly rhinestone collar? Surely one of these must be indicative of the imminent danger.

You are aware that I love you, right?

"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

demolitionic wrote:I ask which aspect terrifies them the most - the wonderful obedience? The sturdy leash/choke combo? The obvious owner control? The wagging tail? The pink sparkly rhinestone collar? Surely one of these must be indicative of the imminent danger.

As she is in a perfect sit or down stay at my feet, I tell them I understand their concerns, and then because I understand, I ask which aspect terrifies them the most - the wonderful obedience? The sturdy leash/choke combo? The obvious owner control? The wagging tail? The pink sparkly rhinestone collar? Surely one of these must be indicative of the imminent danger.

Hahaha that is awesome!

I wouldn't let my dogs off leash anywhere near a dog that acted like those people's dog does. I am not doubting your control however with an out of control dog living basically next door it's a different matter.

Okay I understand what you are saying. So far when the Aussie Shepherd starts targeting my dogs I shoo her away. She has gone after Seth when he was minding his own business[which was the first time I met her] so whenever she is around us I make a pretty big stink, keep my dogs with me and back her off and usually she will go away if I am "menacing" enough. [Hahaha pretty much "Get the f away you piece of crap!"] I should say when she does come up to my crew I grab Seth by the collar if he looks like he's going to go towards her. I do know that if they got into it he could get into a lot of trouble just because of potential stigmas associated with his potential breed mix. I do see where you are coming from and I do agree I should probably be a lot more careful. I want to say also I do thank you for your input!

When the lady picked up her dog to go hide that is what I intended on doing was to have Seth in a sit stay and let her pass.

I would have had a really hard time not laughing.

At the time I was so perplexed. I have NEVER seen anyone hide behind a tree! She literally walked around the tree as we passed, and then walked off and gave me a really stupid look, it's the strangest thing I've seen so far.

My creepy neighbor has started to "bark" at my dogs.

Some girls at the barn did that to my dog LiLo and she HATES them now. They wonder why she barks her head off at them, I let her because they should have known better than to tease her like that. People are dumb.

My contractor, who met Sepp a million times - AND has petted and played w/him - is suddenly "afraid"... because Pits get mean and turn on people when they grow up. WTF.

Hmmm I'm not sure. Isn't that the vicious pit bull who viciously stole your sandwich? I mean... I'd be afraid

Sad to hear that people react that way to Seth. You know how it goes with Toby. It's kind of entertaining when people hide but it's also kind of infuriating at the same time. Entertaining in a sad, sad way. haha, I'm still amazed by people's reactions every day I walk Toby.